Correspondence between Robert Brent Keyser and Grosvenor Atterbury about remodeling Keyser's house Dunlora (Pikesville MD), 1912-1914

Summary Information

At a Glance

Description

Scope and content

Collection of letters and telegrams centered around the remodeling of a house called "Dunlora" aka Merry Hill, located at 8605 Park Heights Avenue in Pikesville Maryland. The house was built for Robert Brent Keyser in 1899 by the firm Hoppin and Koen of New York. The remodeling was done by American architect Grosvenor Atterbury. The vast majority of the letters are between Atterbury (and his firm) and Robert Brent Keyser. They describe various plans and issues surrounding the remodeling of the house. A few letters discuss construction at the Homewood campus of Johns Hopkins University. Some of the other names mentioned in the letters are J.L. Marshall & Son (the builders), Mr. Sperry, Judge Harlan, Morgan-Harjes, Mr. Manly, and Charles E. Reeder.

Publication Date

1912-1914

Using the Collection

Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library

Restrictions on Access

This collection is available for use by appointment in the Department of Drawings & Archives, Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library, Columbia University. For further information and to make an appointment, please email avery-drawings@library.columbia.edu.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Method of acquisition--Purchased;; Date of acquisition--2011. Accession number--2011.020.

About the Finding Aid / Processing Information

Columbia University Libraries, Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library

Subject Headings

The subject headings listed below are found in this collection. Links below allow searches at Columbia University through the Archival Collections Portal and through CLIO, the catalog for Columbia University Libraries, as well as ArchiveGRID, a catalog that allows users to search the holdings of multiple research libraries and archives.

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Genre/Form

Subject

History / Biographical Note

Biographical / Historical

Robert Brent Keyser was the son of the famed capitalist William Keyser. They both were involved in the copper industry, the railroads and Johns Hopkins University. He served as the president of the Baltimore Copper Smelting and Rolling Co., director of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, and was chairman of the trustees for Johns Hopkins University. He played an important role in the development of the Homewood Campus at Johns Hopkins University and in the rebuilding of the Baltimore after the fire of 1904.

Grosvenor Atterbury (1869-1956) was a New York City architect, urban planner and writer. A graduate of Columbia University's School of Architecture, he worked in the office of McKim, Mead & White before opening his own practice.